Artist Statements
Title: Myra
This portrait is a picture of my grandmothers’ younger self. The piece displays her youth and joyfulness. The title of my piece is “Myra”, named after my grandma. Some elements included in the piece would be value in the highlights and shadows in her face. Principles displayed would be contrast between the dark hair and pale face.
I chose the pic I wanted to draw and gridded it to the correct size. After gridding my project paper as well I lightly mapped out her face. I then started with the eyes, bringing them to life. Then I began shading and adding value and contrast in some areas in her face. Lastly, I drew her hair starting with the medium values, moving to the dark and then the light values.
My work is inspired by my grandmother whom I share an amazing relationship with. In my piece I tried to bring her to life and show how happy she was in that picture. This piece was very special to me as I got to draw someone I love.
My goals for the piece were to improve in my mapping and shading with pencil. I feel I reached my goal once I realized my growth with pencil. I challenged myself by overcoming things I am intimidated by.
While creating this artwork I learned my full potential as it was a way for me to grow as an artist. It really gave me a perspective into learning anatomy of the face and learning where light and shadows go. This will inspire future pieces by allowing me to have the knowledge of value and placement of highlights and shadows.
Title: Faking a Smile
This piece is based on the metaphor of hiding your feelings. I have portrayed a man standing in a room with a happy mask in his hand. He is hiding his sadness behind a mask of happiness. In my piece you can see elements of texture in the carpet, and lines in the background. Principles of emphasis on the man in my piece are displayed as I chose to put the focus on him.
I created my piece by trial and error. I struggled by not having the best supplies to work with, so it took a couple of times to find something to work. I started with colored pencil but moved to watercolor after realizing it would not work. I painted the background and the floor making sure to add dimension to give the look of a perspective. Then I moved onto painting the persona and his mask. After that I went in and fixed small details with a sharpie.
The big idea behind my work is to allow people to relate to this metaphor. Personally, I have days where I do not want to be happy or even have the energy to act like it, but I put on a smile and go about my day. I want people to know its okay to have bad days and you don’t have to hide your true feelings behind a fake smile.
As I stated my goals were for people to relate to my piece. I feel people will relate and hopefully know it is okay to have these days. I feel I captured that in my piece.
While creating my piece I learned that just because what you envisioned didn’t work, doesn’t mean you can give up. It taught me to think quickly to find a new media and try that. I am disappointed that my piece isn’t what I imagined but I am thankful it allowed me to grow as an artist.
Title: Kobe
I created the piece ‘Kobe’ inspired by artist Michel Keck. I painted a portrait of late basketball star Kobe Bryant and added in imagery around to make Kobe more recognizable and to also fit the style of the artist in study. I used the element of texture when creating Kobe’s facial hair. I used the principle of balance when painting his head in relation to the imagery in the background.
When creating my artwork, I first mapped put onto my canvas and drew his head and some of the background. Then I went in and painted a background with different values. Then I created skin tone paint and painted his face. After letting that dry, I drew in the imagery and painted that as well. Finally, I added in a quote by Kobe to help my piece fit into Kecks style.
My artwork was inspired by someone admirable which I consider Kobe as admirable. I am not a huge basketball fan but as an athlete, he was an excellent role model for myself and others. He put his all into every aspect in his life and that helps to motivate me when it comes to my personal life. This piece is also in memory of Kobe as we lost him in January of last year.
I was so excited for this project as my goals were to paint and practice creating skin tones. I feel I achieved that goal and I learned how to create skin tones from primary colors. I loved this learning experience and teaching myself with trial and error to get a result. As an artist I am always looking for opportunities to grow and learn.
During this piece I have learned new techniques when painting a portrait and using skin tones. The final piece is super close to what I imagined and I’m very happy with the result. If I could redo my project, I would change the type of paint I used. I used tempera and acrylic would’ve done better, but it taught me to work with new types of paint. This piece will influence later work as It has already taught me so much while creating it.
Title: Wilbur
I created this piece using tiny rounded brush strokes following the master style impression. My piece features a fluffy cow which I named Wilbur. I decided to add some of my goofy personality when deciding the title for this piece as Wilbur became a joke from me and my mom ‘naming’ the cow I painted. I used the element of texture in my piece when creating the fur. I used the principle of movement when displaying how the fur lays on the cow’s body.
After choosing the style, I chose what I wanted to pain and sketched it out on to a canvas. I also practiced Impressionism painting before starting on my final piece. I used acrylic paint and painted the base layer. Finally, I used different values to create the fur with short brush strokes.
My piece was inspired by artist Vincent Van Gough and the master style impressionism. I chose to paint something that brings me joy. I love looking at these specific cows and they always put a smile on my face.
My goals for this piece were to challenge myself to try a new style of painting and to paint something I haven’t painted yet. This piece has taught me a lot, even when mixing the paint to make the right colors. As an artist I am always looking for opportunities to grow through my work and this piece progressed my skills further.
While creating this piece I learned better ways to blend and show value while painting. The final piece is very close to what I imagined and I’m very happy about that. This piece will inspire future pieces by reminding me of blending and different styles of brush strokes.
Title: Kalei
This piece was inspired by artist Robert de Jesus and involves turning a real person into a cartoon or vice versa. I named the piece after my friend Kalei, as she was the person I turned into a cartoon. I was inspired by Disney princess cartoon styles. An element in my piece is color, as I tried to make the piece full of color. A principle in my piece would be emphasis, as I tried to emphasize the eyes to make the piece be recognizable in the Disney style.
I created my piece by looking at my realistic picture and my cartoon style and drawing the cartoon with features from my friend. It was a process of looking at different Disney princesses to understand how some features should look. I chose to paint watercolor for this piece and use sharpie to outline the fine details.
My artwork is inspired by artist Robert de Jesus. My artwork does not express a social issue, but it was cool to have to make realistic features into cartoon features. I loved to be able to connect between the two.
My goals as an artist are always to grow and try new things. I challenged myself to take the realistic features and turn them into a cartoon inspired by a certain cartoon style. This piece taught me a lot and helped me to achieve my goals.
While creating this piece I’ve learned so much and discovered a new style of art. The final piece surprised me and I am content with it. I have made error but it has only allowed me to grow.
Title: Spaghetti
I sculpted one of my favorite meals for this project. I was original with the name to make it clear to which food it was. I added tons of texture and color in the piece. My artwork is a bowl of spaghetti with two meatballs.
For this piece I used air dry clay and water to help smooth the clay. I made the bowl first and let it dry and then started in the noodles. This was a trial and error process, but I finally made it work. I laid the noodles down to dry and then started adding texture to the meatballs. After it was all dried, I started painting everything.
The big idea behind the artwork was to sculpt a food item and try to make it look as realistic as possible. Spaghetti was cooked a lot in my house when I was little and is still one of my favorite foods. I guess I could call it a comfort food.
My main goal with every project is to be able to grow as an artist. I also tried to make this look super realistic and work with the materials I had. I wouldn’t say I completely reached my goals. I learned a lot of new technique while working with clay, but I’m not satisfied with the final piece.
I am not that happy with how this piece turned out. I did try my best, but the clay was difficult to work with. If I were to reattempt this piece, I would buy a different type of clay and maybe try new techniques. I am proud of myself for not giving up when the first idea didn’t work.
Title: Big Mouth
My artwork is a print of a mouth with a tongue sticking out. I was inspired by the artist Andy Warhol and the pop art style when creating my piece. I used vibrant colors and did multiple prints on one page. I titled this piece “Big Mouth” because I thought it was a funny name for the piece. I used the element of color to follow the pop art style and attract the eye to my piece. I used the principle of harmony in the way that I equally spaced the prints out.
After deciding what I wanted my print to be, I used a piece of Styrofoam and traced my print into it. After making sure the lines were deep, I painted the Styrofoam with acrylic paint and held it down on a piece of paper. After a lot of trial and error I used this same process to create my final piece.
My artwork is inspired by artist Andy Warhol. It is also inspired by the pop art master style. This project was a fun experience and taught me a lot about transfer.
My goals for this piece was to successfully make a print that had full coverage. I achieved this goal after seeing how much paint it takes to transfer efficiently. I liked using this media and would try it again.
While creating this piece I learned about paint transfer. I learned how to manipulate the Styrofoam and how much paint to use. I also learned that you could use Styrofoam to print. My final piece is almost exactly how I imagined it and I am very happy with it. This piece has inspired me to do it again.